Falling Into Step
by ButterFlight
Summary: AU. A terrible accident has occurred, leaving Eren and Mikasa in the ruins of their old life. As they slowly piece together what happened on that fateful night they also begin to rebuild their lives by attending a grief support group. Rated M for chapters to come. Read and Review please! Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin.
1. Car Keys

Two weeks had passed since the accident. Every morning felt like any other day to Eren until he walked out into the living room and saw a single set of car keys hanging from the hook. Then the memories came flooding back in an instant.

"_Hello." The voice of a bored, young man answered._

_On the other end of the line a man spoke, "Is this the Jaegar residence?"_

_The teen perked up, "Yeah, why do you ask?"_

_Across the room a girl of about the same age sat embroidering the front of what would eventually be a birthday gift for her adoptive mom. _

"_This is Officer Smith. I'm so sorry Mr. Jaegar. There has been an accident. I need you to come down to the intersection of Titan Ave. and Shinganshina St. immediately."_

"_Eren, what's going on?" A concerned look was etched into the dark eyes of the girl on the other side of the room. She set down her embroidery and joined her adoptive brother on the couch. _

"_Thank you sir. I am on my way." Eren hung up the phone and sat in a daze before his sister snapped him out of it. "Eren what's wrong?"_

"_Mikasa, we need to go." Eren abruptly stood and rushed to fetch the keys to the other car. Mikasa trailed behind them asking a flurry of questions but Eren didn't respond. All he could think about was the man's urgent tone over the phone._

_Upon nearing the intersection where the accident had taken place the two siblings were greeted by a pair of cars—the front ends bashed in completely on each—flashing lights, sirens, pavement showered in broken glass and darker red liquid. Eren parked a block away as he and Mikasa approached the accident. A crowd of people was starting to form and an ambulance was taking off as they met up with the officer from the phone call._

"_Are you Eren Jaegar?" The blond haired cop questioned. His tone was somber as he looked over the two individuals that stood before him. In his mind, Erwin thought they couldn't be any older than their late teens at best. _

"_Yes sir. What's going on? Why have you called me down here?"_

_Off in the shadows a few streets over Mikasa noticed a strange, hooded figure peering out from an alleyway. Before she could ask Eren if he saw them as well, the figure disappeared into the darkness, avoiding the gentle glow spilling out of the street lamp near by. _

_Meanwhile Officer Smith prepared himself to break the news to the young duo. "Eren," his voice softened. "There is no easy way for me to say this." _

_Eren and Mikasa waited for Officer Smith to continue. He was a handsome man, broad shoulders that seemed like they'd exude confidence on a better day. But as of right now, Erwin's face looked forlorn._

"_There was an accident involving your parents, Grisha and Carla Jaegar. A pedestrian called us as soon as they saw it happen. We rushed over here…."_

_The words were becoming a blur._

"_We tried everything we could do, but it was a head on collision. The other driver was under the influence of alcohol and was taken to the hospital as soon as you pulled up. Your parents, unfortunately died minutes before you arrived."_

_Everything started to sound really far away. Somewhere off to his side Mikasa was nudging him. He vaguely remembered hearing his name called before everything went black._

Eren jumped as he came back to his senses. He was no longer at the site of the accident but rather standing in his living room. The rumble from his empty stomach coaxed him into the kitchen where he found his sister Mikasa pouring a second cup of coffee. Taking his spot at the table he began to slowly sip at his drink.

Mikasa sat across from him in the small kitchen that now felt much too large for just the two of them. They sat in silence for a while before Mikasa finally cleared her throat.

"Eren." No response. Every day he seemed more like a statue and less like a human being.

"Eren!" She called again, this time a bit louder. Her brother stirred slightly moving his gaze from his cup of coffee to meet hers.

Mikasa continued. "Remember when Armin's grandfather passed on a month ago?"

Eren sat rigid.

"He started attending a grief counseling group. He told me that it really helped him deal with his loss."

The brunet still wasn't responding to his sister.

"I've signed us up to start attending the group sessions. We have one at 3:00pm today."

This caught his attention. Eren blinked.

"Eren, you will go with me, won't you?"

Eren continued to stare at Mikasa for another minute before finishing his coffee and promptly leaving the kitchen.

Mikasa sighed as she stood and retrieved is neglected, empty mug before following after her brother.


	2. Lack of Sleep

"I'm not going." Eren said as he lay on his bed, starring at the ceiling.

"Like hell you are." Mikasa retorted. "I promised your mom that I would stick with you no matter what happened. You are going to the group meeting today."

Eren sat up irritated. "Mikasa you don't have to take care of me! I'm not a child. Just, leave me alone." Tears began to well in his eyes but he fought them back.

Mikasa knew better. She took a seat next to him on his bed. "They were my parents too, you know." She placed a hand on top of one of his balled up fists. "It's not easy to lose the people you love a second time around."

Eren loosened his grip and sighed.

"Please. Come with me one time. If you don't like it I won't make you go again. Just once. Just try it for me. I don't want to do this alone." Mikasa voice hitched slightly on her last few words.

Reluctantly Eren caved in to her request. "Fine. I'll go for today. But we are walking there."

Mikasa nodded calmly, agreeing to Eren's demands. He had not gotten into any motorized vehicle since after the night of the accident.

"I'll come knock on your door in a couple of hours from now. Try to get some rest. It looks like you haven't slept all night." With that, the dark haired girl left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

Eren fell back onto his bed. Sleep was hardly an option. He hadn't slept well in two weeks. The gears in his mind were constantly turning. He kept thinking of every possible thing he could've done that would've saved his parent's lives. He should have asked them to stay in that night and spend time as a family. He should've asked them if he and Mikasa could join them. Even if they died as well at least they would all be together. He should've never started that argument….

"_Eren wants to join the military and fight on the front lines." Mikasa said as soon as they came home from school that day. _

_Carla Jaegar froze. "Eren you absolutely will not! You will finish up your schooling and attend college!"_

"_You can't decide my future for me Mom! Fighting on the front lines is extremely honorable and I want to protect my country." He spat back. "Mikasa why did you tell her?" Eren was fuming._

"_It's a good thing she did tell me! You will die out there. Hardly anyone comes back anymore. No child of mine is going out to war to get shot at." Carla matched her son's intensity. _

"_What's all the yelling about?" Grisha Jaegar asked as he hung up is set of keys next to the other set on the hook. _

"_Your son wants to join the military and fight on the front lines and I told him no. I'm not having one of my children returned to me in a bloody mess of limbs!"_

"_Now Carla, Eren has every right to make his own choices." Grisha stated. His wife was taken aback and the smile on Eren's face grew. Mikasa remained stoic as usual. "But Eren you will attend college before you make any decision to fight in the military. I want you to really think this over."_

"_But Dad! That's completely unfair. That'll be at least an extra four years that I'll end up wasting. I know what I want to do!" the boy pouted._

"_You will not go against my orders, Son!" _

_On that note Eren trudged out of the living room and straight to his own room slamming the door behind him. _

_Carla and Grisha began to talk about their son's temper has Mikasa quietly migrated to the kitchen to start dinner for herself and Eren. Tonight was Grisha and Carla's anniversary and they were going out somewhere to eat. _

_An hour later Eren stalked out of his room and plopped down at his spot at the kitchen table. Mikasa had just finished making their dinner as Grisha and Carla came in to say goodbye to their kids. _

"_Where are you guys going out to eat?" Mikasa asked._

_Carla smiled at the girl. She had always liked Mikasa ever since the night Grisha brought her to the house after her parent's death. "We're heading to this new fancy restaurant called Sina."_

_Eren huffed and rolled his eyes. _

_Grisha noticed this immediately. "Listen Eren, I know you're upset about earlier but we are doing this for your own good."_

"_Whatever." _

"_When we get back I have something to show you down in the basement. Try to be in a better mood then." Grisha patted his son's head and led his wife out the door grabbing one of the sets of car keys._

"_Have fun tonight!" Mikasa called out. Grisha and Carla gave her a friendly wave as they closed the front door._

_Eren internally celebrated at the thought of getting to see something that his father locked up in the basement. No one was ever allowed down there. _

_Mikasa finished setting the table and the siblings ate their dinner in silence. Afterwards the both did the dishes and moved into the living room. Mikasa was working on some form of embroidery while Eren was sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs, wondering about what his father would show him when he got back. _

_All of the sudden the phone began to ring._

Eren woke up abruptly in a cold sweat to the sound of a phone ringing. He fumbled around until he found the device and answered it.

"Hey Eren." A chipper voice answered on the other end.

"Hi Armin. What'd you call for?"

"Mikasa told me that you guys would be coming to the group today and I was wondering if you'd both like to join me for a cup of coffee before the gathering."

Eren fiddled with a loose string on his t-shirt. "Uhh…sure we can meet you."

"Great! I'll see you two at Café Maria in twenty."

The line went dead as Eren took a deep breath. He got out of bed for the second time that day and made a beeline for the bathroom. Rumpled clothes, messy hair and bloodshot eyes. He never really cared much for first impressions anyways. After exiting the bathroom he knocked on Mikasa's door to inform her of the little detour they would be making in their trip today. She was quite thrilled to say the least.

At least one of them was.


	3. Meet the Group

A/N: First I'd like to start off by saying I don't usually do these. (Author's notes, I mean) But I feel like I should say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to follow my story and read the first two chapters. Thank you! After a year of writing mostly academic essays for classes I have fallen out of the groove of creative writing and some of it is a little bit rocky. I am working on my writing style with each chapter and would really appreciate constructive criticism or even a nice little message/review telling me if you're enjoying the story or not. This will help me decide if I will continue it. Also I'll add in the obvious disclaimer (that I also put in the fic's summary) I do not own Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters. Again, thank you for reading! Please review if you get the chance.

Café Maria was bustling as usual. A small blonde girl with a kind smile stood behind the register, taking the order of each new customer that came. Her eyes lit up when Armin was next in line.

"Hey you! I haven't seen you in forever." The small blonde stated.

"Krista I was in here two days ago." Armin responded with a bright smile.

"Well it feels like it's been forever." Krista looked beyond Armin to the pair that stood behind them. "Who's behind you? Are they your friends?"

"Oh yes, I'm so sorry I almost forgot. This is Eren and Mikasa." Motioning to each individual respectively.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both!" The blonde girl's mood was infectious. Mikasa gave small nod and Armin could've sworn that he saw Eren's lips begin to twitch upward to form the ghosting of a smile. "Anywho, will it be the usual, Armin?"

"You know me too well!" After paying for his drink Armin set out to find an empty table.

"And what'll you have, Mikasa?"

"I'll just take a bottle of water and Eren will have a black coffee." The brunet male stared ahead blankly as Krista typed in their order. Mikasa paid and pulled Eren along until they met up with Armin at the table. A few minutes later another short woman with an equally bright demeanor greeted the trio with their beverages.

Armin sipped at his coffee while Eren continued to zone out until Mikasa gave him a shard jab to his side.

A few tables over a small man sat gazing into his own cup of coffee with a perpetual scowl upon his face. Mikasa couldn't place where she knew him from but something about him felt so familiar. Moments passed and she brushed it off and returned her attention to her current company.

Not much conservation ensued as the trio downed their beverages. It was Armin who finally broke the silence, murmuring about how they should all get going if they wanted to make the group gathering on time. Mikasa and Eren obliged his statement and the three friends set off once again.

Twenty minutes later Eren found himself seated in a small room full of mismatched furniture. He sank into the cushions of a worn blue couch. Truthfully, the room gave off a cozy vibe. Next to the blue couch was a plaid love seat with half of the stuffing in the back cushion puffing out while the rest of the lopsided circle was filled with an array of folding chairs. Somewhere off on a little wooden table there was incense burning which gave the whole room an even earthier vibe. Posters of old musicians and hopeful slogans were plastered haphazardly on three of the walls save for one that was filled with photographs of people.

Armin sat in the middle of Mikasa and Eren on the couch. More people were now filing into the room. A male with two-toned hair sat in the plaid love seat alone while everyone else opted for one of the folding chairs.

A blonde girl with a blank expression and pointed nose stared at the ground a few feet ahead of her while a taller girl with a tan took the seat next to her with a scowl that appeared to be permanent etched into her features. The last two people that Eren noticed was boy who was almost bald and a girl who rushed in after him with a large cup of French fries. Everyone sat in an uncomfortable silence as a woman with dated glasses and modern tan trench coat entered the room in a bustle.

"Good afternoons my little ducklings!" The eccentric woman chirped. "I see we have some new friends today!" A few quiet hellos were exchanged before the woman approached the new comers.

"And who might you be? Will you be joining our flock?!" The woman had approached Eren with an inquisitive look.

It was Armin who spoke up, "Ms. Hanji, these are my friends Eren and Mikasa. They have recently lost their parents in a terrible accident and I suggested that they come to this group with me to try and cope with their loss."

Hanji smiled and introduced herself. "Hello there, Eren! Mikasa! My name is Dr. Hanji Zoe. Certified psychiatrist and counselor. But you can call me Ms. Hanji or just Hanji if you prefer."

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Hanji." Mikasa replied.

"Oh please, don't call me doctor! It's much too formal. In fact, from now on, all of you should simply refer to me as just Hanji." Hanji's excessive positive energy was a stark contrast to the dismal group that sat around her.

"Enough chit chat for now. Let's pick up where we left off. Now you two," Hanji plopped down carelessly into a chair and motioned to Eren and Mikasa. "you two don't have to speak today if you don't want to. I will expect everyone else to update the group on how you've been coping since we last gathered. Oh! And please introduce yourselves. We have guests after all! Jean, how about you start."

The male with the two-toned hair let out a sigh and straightened in his seat. "Hello my name is Jean. Last Wednesday was the sixth month anniversary of the day the pair of soldiers had shown up on my doorstep and notified me that my boyfriend had died in battle." Tears began to spill out of Jean's eyes as he clutched his palms in one another. "I tried to keep busy that day. Ya know, so I wouldn't think about it. But everywhere I went reminded me of him. It's like everything I saw that day was intentionally put in my path to force me to think about how he is no longer with me. If there is a God out there, which I have trouble believing there is, but if he or she is really out there I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive them for taking him away from me."

"This is good. Get all your feelings out Jean!" Hanji encouraged. It might have been her obscurely high energy levels or the simple fact that the woman was eccentric to start but Eren found her encouragement to be even more discomforting than Jean's crying that resembled something of a strangled barn animal.

"Alright Jean seems as if he needs to cool down, Annie, Why don't you share next?"

The blonde girl with the pointed nose looked up and snorted. "I have nothing to share."

"Last week you told us that you had an appointment to visit your father. How did that go?"

"It was shitty. How else would it have gone? He rambled on for an hour saying 'Daddy will always love you' and 'You can't trust anybody but Daddy' or 'Annie I'll come for you when I get out, I promise!' Absolute bull shit." Annie went back to starring blankly at the ground.

Hanji tried to press her further, "Well that's a start! At least you guys talked."

"I wish I hadn't gone to see him. It was a waste of time. He's still as delusional as ever."

"At least you still have parents." Everyone in the room froze and looked over to the source of the words that were just uttered. Eren suddenly found many unfamiliar gazes and a few scowls focused in on him. No matter, he continued. "At least your Dad is still alive to tell you that he loves you. Stop acting like a child and just accept his love."

Annie's blank stare turned into a venomous glare. "You better shut your fucking mouth. I have no desire to accept the love of a man who ruined my life."

"It's your own damn fault that your life sucks. You have to choose to be happy. You have to choose to fight!"

"Oh really?! Then let's trade Dads. I'll take your six feet underground maggot food of a father over my old pedophile pops any day." Annie was shouting now.

Eren was up from the couch and about to cross the room before Mikasa was right behind him, pulling him back down and chastising him.

"You're just going to sit here and let her talk about our father like that? Mikasa they took you in and loved you. And you're going to let this stupid bitch spit on his grave?!"

"Eren calm down!" his sister scolded.

Seeing that things were starting to get a little messy, Hanji finally grabbed the reins and steered the conversation in a less physical direction.

"Okay, Ymir how about you share next!"

A tanned girl with dark hair shifted in her seat. Her seemingly perpetual scowl softened when she spoke. Her voice was a bit deeper than the average females but was somewhat comforting to listen to. "I still have no contact with Historia." Ymir had a wistful tone to her voice. "If I can't find any leads in the next few weeks, I'm going to pack up and start again at the next town."

"I'm glad to hear you are persevering! Sasha, you next!"

A mouthful of French fries began to move in synch with muffled sounds.

"Can you please repeat that?" Hanji asked.

The almost bald guy intervened, "She said that she hasn't binged and purged in a week and a half now." The girl mumbled some more. "Oh, and that she's not binging right now. She just over slept and missed out on lunch so she picked up some French fries at the nearest place and rushed over here."

"Excellent Sasha! You have made so much progress since you've started attending our weekly gatherings. And Connie I'm absolutely positive that your support has helped her tremendously!" Hanji was beaming. "Alright, lastly Armin how about you tell us about how you're coping with the loss of your grandfather."

"Well I visited the cemetery the other day and it was the first time I've ever gone without breaking down into tears. So I'd say that's an accomplishment." Armin smiled as he continued. "I found a bunch of his old journals and books the other day and I've been reading through them and really trying to appreciate the legacy he left behind and the wonderful life that he lived. I feel like reading his journals has really helped me cope with the loss. It feels like he's still with me in a weird way I suppose." Armin was twiddling his fingers as he finished up his update.

"Another excellent improvement!" Hanji shuffled through her bag and pulled out some flyers. "Now it appears that our time has come to an end but before you all leave I have something to give to you. Some old friends of mine recently opened up a dance studio down the street from here and asked me if I could do a little publicity. They told me that if you presented them with this flyer upon arrival that the first four lessons would be free! Dancing is an excellent way to express your self and stay in shape. It might even help some of you through your struggles." Hanji was now passing out the flyers to each individual. "I highly encourage all of you to at least check out the studio. The studio head's name is Levi Rivaille and he would be thrilled to know that I sent you."

Everyone began to shuffle out the room. Eren and Annie exchanged heated glances once more while Armin scanned over the flyer.

"Hey guys," He said to his friends. "I think I'm going to sign up for some classes."

"Armin that sounds like an excellent idea. Eren and I will join you."

Eren stopped glaring daggers long enough to turn his incredulous gaze towards his sister. "I don't think so."

Upon his immediate refusal a swift kick was delivered to his shin. Eren hissed in pain as Mikasa shot daggers of her own straight back him.

The trio had made it back outside and we're walking back to their respective homes when Eren piped up again.

"What is the studio even called?"

Armin perked up at his change of heart and pulled out his flyer. "It says here that the studio is named 'Wings of Freedom'. I think it'll be a lot of fun. They have a lot of different dance styles listed here. Including partner dancing!" Armin kept rambling until they approached the point in which they would have to split up. A few good byes were exchanged and Eren and Mikasa walked again in a comfortable silence until they reached the house. As they reached the front door Mikasa stopped her brother.

"Just give it a chance."

"Give what a chance? The group or the dance classes. Because frankly, I don't want anything to do with either of them."

"Do it for Armin. I haven't seen him this happy in weeks." Mikasa fumbled with keys for a brief moment and then unlocked the door, leading the way inside.

"I'll think about it." Eren responded. He trudged to his room and locked the door. First it was attending some stupid grieving group and now they wanted him to sign up for dance classes. Absolutely ridiculous.

Yet even with all of his aversions to both of the activities, there was some strange nagging voice in the back of Eren's head that told him to give them each a shot. 'At least it'll be a distraction for the time being.' Eren thought.

Out in the kitchen Mikasa was scanning the flyer debating what classes she might enjoy when she heard a knock at the door.


End file.
